THE INSIDER AUTHORITY ON GATOR SPORTS

Gators complete sweep of Georgia

After two walk-off victories against Georgia this weekend, the No. 4 Gators used the term a little differently Sunday.

Florida hitters walked on six consecutive at-bats during a seven-run sixth inning and the Gators went on to sweep the Bulldogs with a 9-3 victory at McKethan Stadium that kept them tied atop the Eastern Division with South Carolina, a 5-3 winner Sunday at Arkansas.

So the SEC regular-season championship and the top-seeded team in the SEC Tournament that begins a week from Wednesday in Hoover, Ala., will be determined by the three-game series between Florida and South Carolina that begins Thursday night at 7 p.m. in Columbia.

Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, however, put himself in the shoes of his Georgia counterpart, Dave Perno, whose team (14-36, 3-22 SEC) gave the Gators (37-12, 20-7 SEC) all they could handle during the weekend, losing 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday and Saturday.

“It’s tough to even watch the other team go through that,” O’Sullivan said of the Bulldogs’ pitching staff self-destruction in the sixth inning. “It’s hard. Nobody goes out there trying to throw balls. It’s one of those innings that kind of got away from them.”

Florida led 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth as reliever Chase Hawkins took over for starting pitcher Michael Palazzone. The Gators started the sixth by loading the bases with two outs on singles by Bryson Smith, a fielder’s choice on pinch-hitter Jonathan Pigott’s bunt, a single by Saturday hero Ben McMahan and the first walk – a free pass for Josh Adams by Malcolm Clapsaddle, who had relieved Hawkins.

After Nolan Fontana drew the second walk to bring home Pigott, Perno brought in Blake Dieterich, who walked Matt den Dekker and Preston Tucker to bring home two more runs. Perno again went to his bullpen, bringing in Cecil Tanner, who then walked Austin Maddox, forcing home another run. Tanner then unleashed a wild pitch, scoring den Dekker, and Daniel Pigott drew the last walk to load the bases and bring in another Georgia reliever, Cooper Moseley.

Bryson Smith finally broke the parade of walks when he singled for the second time in the inning to give Florida a 9-1 lead. The Georgia relievers didn’t throw a strike during three of the six walks.

“They just didn’t have command,” Fontana said. “We were patient at the plate and made things happen. You’re thinking ‘hit, hit, hit’ before the pitch, and they were just scattering balls everywhere.”

The two singles for Smith were more special because of the opposition. The designated hitter, who went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI, was born and raised in Georgia, growing up wearing the black and red of the Bulldogs. Smith even rooted for Georgia “up until last year when I committed (to Florida).

“My family was down here, and it was kind of tough for them to pull against Georgia,” Smith said with a laugh. “It was unique and something cool to be a part of.”

Smith (.280, 3 HR, 21 RBI) has swung a hot bat since returning to the lineup a few weeks ago from a finger injury. Combined with Ben McMahan (.396-2-8) and Brian Johnson (.375-3-12), the trio gives O’Sullivan multiple options for the designated-hitter spot.

“We just try to play the hot hand,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s what depth does. Depth allows you to play the hot guy. We’ve had a lot of injuries this year or guys that have gone into slumps, but we’ve been able to overcome it because of our depth.”

Smith doesn’t care if he is in the lineup as the third baseman, designated hitter or if he sits the bench. As long as the team is winning, Smith is happy.

“If I had to sit the bench and win a national championship, that’s something I’d like to do,” Smith said. “

The Gators had a 2-1 lead after Tucker hit a sacrifice fly and Daniel Pigott had an RBI single in the third inning.

Johnson started on the mound and rebounded from last weekend’s performance. He went 5.2 innings, giving up six hits and one run while striking out three. His goal coming into the game was to regain his command, which he seemed to have lost last weekend.

Johnson didn’t pitch and hit during the same game for the first time in weeks. O’Sullivan knew the importance of the sweep, and with Smith hitting as well as he has lately, the Gators wanted their pitcher to be able to rest while the Florida offense hit on a hot day.

The bullpen had another good day as three relievers combined to allow just three hits and two unearned runs in 3.1 innings pitched. Unlike Georgia’s bullpen, which surrendered nine walks, Florida’s bullpen allowed none.

Jeff Barfield pitched 1.1 innings in relief of Johnson, and he was replaced in the seventh by Nick Maronde, who pitched to two batters, hitting both before O’Sullivan turned to Anthony DeSclafani. The sophomore right-hander went two innings, allowing three hits and two strikeouts, but O’Sullivan was encouraged by the outing.

DeSclafani’s outing combined with Greg Larson’s four shutout innings on Friday night eases the concern about the Florida bullpen. The three arms make O’Sullivan more confident in his team’s ability to get the ball from the starting pitcher to closer Kevin Chapman.

“We’ve got three of those guys going,” O’Sullivan said. “If we can get DeSclafani going, we can bridge that gap to Chapman. I like how the staff is shaping up.”

McMahan started the game at catcher for Mike Zunino, who came out of Saturday’s game with a dislocated thumb on his left hand while behind the plate. The Gators will be careful with Zunino in hopes of having him healthy the series at South Carolina. Before then, however, Florida will play host to North Florida Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

“He’s fine,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ve got a splint for that thing. We won’t play him on Tuesday. We’ll give him a few extra days and evaluate him on Thursday to see where we’re at. I don’t think it’s anything terribly serious, but we’ve just got to be careful with it.”

The weekend attendance of 14,619 was the largest for a three-game series in the history of McKethan Stadium. Sunday’s crowd was announced as 4,324. It also served as Florida’s first sweep of Georgia in Gainesville since 2000. The Gators now have an eight-game winning streak against Georgia, dating back to the 2008 season.

After two walk-off victories against Georgia this weekend, the No. 4 Gators used the term a little differently Sunday.

Florida hitters walked on six consecutive at-bats during a seven-run sixth inning and the Gators went on to sweep the Bulldogs with a 9-3 victory at McKethan Stadium that kept them tied atop the Eastern Division with South Carolina, a 5-3 winner Sunday at Arkansas.

So the SEC regular-season championship and the top-seeded team in the SEC Tournament that begins a week from Wednesday in Hoover, Ala., will be determined by the three-game series between Florida and South Carolina that begins Thursday night at 7 p.m. in Columbia.

Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, however, put himself in the shoes of his Georgia counterpart, Dave Perno, whose team (14-36, 3-22 SEC) gave the Gators (37-12, 20-7 SEC) all they could handle during the weekend, losing 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday and Saturday.

“It’s tough to even watch the other team go through that,” O’Sullivan said of the Bulldogs’ pitching staff self-destruction in the sixth inning. “It’s hard. Nobody goes out there trying to throw balls. It’s one of those innings that kind of got away from them.”

Florida led 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth as reliever Chase Hawkins took over for starting pitcher Michael Palazzone. The Gators started the sixth by loading the bases with two outs on singles by Bryson Smith, a fielder’s choice on pinch-hitter Jonathan Pigott’s bunt, a single by Saturday hero Ben McMahan and the first walk – a free pass for Josh Adams by Malcolm Clapsaddle, who had relieved Hawkins.

After Nolan Fontana drew the second walk to bring home Pigott, Perno brought in Blake Dieterich, who walked Matt den Dekker and Preston Tucker to bring home two more runs. Perno again went to his bullpen, bringing in Cecil Tanner, who then walked Austin Maddox, forcing home another run. Tanner then unleashed a wild pitch, scoring den Dekker, and Daniel Pigott drew the last walk to load the bases and bring in another Georgia reliever, Cooper Moseley.

Bryson Smith finally broke the parade of walks when he singled for the second time in the inning to give Florida a 9-1 lead. The Georgia relievers didn’t throw a strike during three of the six walks.

“They just didn’t have command,” Fontana said. “We were patient at the plate and made things happen. You’re thinking ‘hit, hit, hit’ before the pitch, and they were just scattering balls everywhere.”

The two singles for Smith were more special because of the opposition. The designated hitter, who went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI, was born and raised in Georgia, growing up wearing the black and red of the Bulldogs. Smith even rooted for Georgia “up until last year when I committed (to Florida).

“My family was down here, and it was kind of tough for them to pull against Georgia,” Smith said with a laugh. “It was unique and something cool to be a part of.”

Smith (.280, 3 HR, 21 RBI) has swung a hot bat since returning to the lineup a few weeks ago from a finger injury. Combined with Ben McMahan (.396-2-8) and Brian Johnson (.375-3-12), the trio gives O’Sullivan multiple options for the designated-hitter spot.

“We just try to play the hot hand,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s what depth does. Depth allows you to play the hot guy. We’ve had a lot of injuries this year or guys that have gone into slumps, but we’ve been able to overcome it because of our depth.”

Smith doesn’t care if he is in the lineup as the third baseman, designated hitter or if he sits the bench. As long as the team is winning, Smith is happy.

“If I had to sit the bench and win a national championship, that’s something I’d like to do,” Smith said. “

The Gators had a 2-1 lead after Tucker hit a sacrifice fly and Daniel Pigott had an RBI single in the third inning.

Johnson started on the mound and rebounded from last weekend’s performance. He went 5.2 innings, giving up six hits and one run while striking out three. His goal coming into the game was to regain his command, which he seemed to have lost last weekend.

Johnson didn’t pitch and hit during the same game for the first time in weeks. O’Sullivan knew the importance of the sweep, and with Smith hitting as well as he has lately, the Gators wanted their pitcher to be able to rest while the Florida offense hit on a hot day.

The bullpen had another good day as three relievers combined to allow just three hits and two unearned runs in 3.1 innings pitched. Unlike Georgia’s bullpen, which surrendered nine walks, Florida’s bullpen allowed none.

Jeff Barfield pitched 1.1 innings in relief of Johnson, and he was replaced in the seventh by Nick Maronde, who pitched to two batters, hitting both before O’Sullivan turned to Anthony DeSclafani. The sophomore right-hander went two innings, allowing three hits and two strikeouts, but O’Sullivan was encouraged by the outing.

DeSclafani’s outing combined with Greg Larson’s four shutout innings on Friday night eases the concern about the Florida bullpen. The three arms make O’Sullivan more confident in his team’s ability to get the ball from the starting pitcher to closer Kevin Chapman.

“We’ve got three of those guys going,” O’Sullivan said. “If we can get DeSclafani going, we can bridge that gap to Chapman. I like how the staff is shaping up.”

McMahan started the game at catcher for Mike Zunino, who came out of Saturday’s game with a dislocated thumb on his left hand while behind the plate. The Gators will be careful with Zunino in hopes of having him healthy the series at South Carolina. Before then, however, Florida will play host to North Florida Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

“He’s fine,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ve got a splint for that thing. We won’t play him on Tuesday. We’ll give him a few extra days and evaluate him on Thursday to see where we’re at. I don’t think it’s anything terribly serious, but we’ve just got to be careful with it.”

The weekend attendance of 14,619 was the largest for a three-game series in the history of McKethan Stadium. Sunday’s crowd was announced as 4,324. It also served as Florida’s first sweep of Georgia in Gainesville since 2000. The Gators now have an eight-game winning streak against Georgia, dating back to the 2008 season.